


Paved with good intentions

by Ibenholt



Category: Ai no Kusabi
Genre: Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21794539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ibenholt/pseuds/Ibenholt
Summary: Riki recieves an unexpected present.
Relationships: Iason Mink/Riki
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26
Collections: Ai no Kusabi Creative Challenge December 2019





	Paved with good intentions

Riki was working on his second cigarette and first cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows when Cal came out to the balcony with two letters in his hands.

“Master Riki? These arrived for you.”

Riki came over, studying the items without touching them.

“You check to see if it was a bomb?”

“Of course.”

“I was joking.”

“I wasn’t. I am responsible your own and Lord Mink’s lives and well-being.”

“… thanks.”

Cal turned them around, showing that they were numbered ‘1’ and ‘2’.

“Should be easy enough.”

Riki muttered. He accepted the envelopes and Cal bowed before he left the balcony. Riki opened the first one. As he did, a video opened up on a run down bar. Riki swore he could remember it, but then he suddenly had other things to focus on.

It was Bison.

Luke, Norris, Sid and Guy were sitting together in a bar, talking over beer bottles and bowls of shitty snacks. There were small smiles playing on their lips, but they looked somber, Guy more than anyone. Luke said something, and in the noise from the bar, Riki could make out his own name just before the others lifted theirs in a toast. Guy wiped his eye quickly before downing the stout, and Norris put an arm around him.

Hands shivering, Riki tried not to freak out. Who had found this footage? And how?

He replayed the clip over and over, reaching out to cup Guy’s cheek before pulling back. This wasn’t his life anymore. The guys were safe, but it all relied on him honoring his promise to Iason.

But he couldn’t stop looking at them. It looked like they were trying to celebrate. He noted that they wore warm clothes, and he suddenly recalled the nights were they’d all sleep in a pile, struggling to keep warm even with a heater in the room. He remembered Guy pressing their faces together and Sid’s nose getting red in the cold.

Mimicking Guy’s movement, he brushed a tear away.

It was over. No reason to dwell on it.

He opened envelope 2, instead. A strip of light shot out of the card before Nade appeared, wearing red and gold and glitter. She wiggled her fingers,

‘Hey, man. Surprise, surprise.

Yesterday was the coldest day of the year. Not that we would know, of course. But you made it through another one, and so did your gang.

It’s always worth celebrating another year that you’ve lived through. And I’m real proud of you for doing so, especially considering the circumstances. First Guardian, then Ceres and now Eos. You’ll punch anyone who says you climbed your way up, so I won’t talk about that. And you’re probably gonna punch _me_ in the stomach for sticking my nose in your business, but I know you miss the guys. And as you can clearly see, they miss you, too.

It was a great thing you did for’em. When all the chips are down and you feel like shit, just remember that.

Well done.’

Iason came home late that night. He was anxious to see Riki, and didn’t care for how Cal seemed reluctant to reveal his location. But as he stepped out on the balcony and saw his pet’s tear-stained face illuminated in the warm glow of his old friends, he understood.


End file.
